How To Manage Large Lawns and Gardens

~ How many of us dream of having a big beautiful garden, with luscious green lawns that stretch out in front of us as soon as we open our backdoors?

We imagine all of the things that we could do with a big outdoor space. We think of fresh green grass, bountiful fruit trees, colorful flowers, and even soothing water features. If you have kids or planning on expanding your family,  chances are that you envisioned them running around in a large open space, playing and having fun, while being safe and protected. A large garden and vast landscape are often high up on our wish lists when we are looking to invest in a property.

However, the reality could be a little different and downright perplexing. If you are moving into a house that has been empty for an extended period of time, or you have largely ignored your own outdoor space for many months, you might find that it is far from the peaceful paradise of your dreams. Perhaps it is even unruly, unkempt, withered, dry and wilted. 

The grass lawn might have quickly become overgrown, filled with weeds and sad looking plants, along with overgrown tree branches. Those fruit trees might now be bare, with rotten fruit all over the floor. Yes, that happens quite a lot. When we looked into our current property, that is exactly what we found. Oranges and grapefruits covered the whole backyard, quietly rotting in the dirt. Fallen leaves, mulch and broken old furniture might litter the area, and your large garden might be a million miles away from a beautiful, safe space for the kids to play and laugh. Your dream of a relaxing area for you to restore and rest outside with a good book and a drink of your choice is a bit far fetched in such scenario.

You might have a lot of clean up and work ahead, but the first step is taking control.

Acquire Useful Tools

In a small garden, you can get away with a push lawnmower, a basic rake, spades, forks, gardening gloves, and some other handy tools. If you are faced with a large and overgrown garden, however, you might need to invest in proper tools. An electric lawn mower or even compact tractors might be useful machines to have. Our neighbors, tend to either higher professional companies or maw the lawn themselves with such tractors. It is fun to see a female happily riding the compact tractor, mowing the lawn, while waving to passing cars. It always surprises me that my female friends tend to gravitate towards such work and at the same time inspires me to feel as I can do anything myself.

Clear The Debris

Clearing the debris is perhaps the biggest and labor-intensive job. The amount of physical labor that actually entails in such activity is usually underestimated. My advice is to do it gradually, one area at a time. Pace yourself with the number of yard items that need to be removed or enlist your friends and family to help out. The clean up will get accomplished much faster. Clearing away any fallen leaves, overgrown trees, branches, and other bits and pet gifts in front of your house will leave you with a lasting sense of pride and accomplishment. It is worse mentioning the exercise and fresh air benefits from completing your outside chores that will make your inner spirits balanced and renewed.

Assess For Damage

Even after all the above ideas, you might still find yourself weeding, filling in new bushes for borders, pressure washing and even and paint your fences. Get out there and have a good look, almost as you are looking from the visitors perspective. Do your fences need replacing, fixing or simply a new coat of paint? Is your shed moldy and full of spider webs? Will mulching around the area be enough? Does your lawn need newly planted grass and perhaps repaved walkways? 

Something to think about before the next planting season.

Have a very green day, my friends, full of inspiration.🖼

Luda@PlantsandBeyond🌿

All photographs belong to Luda @PlantsandBeyond.com

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